Nov 26, 2003 - Yakima Brewing and Malt plans to use the proceeds of a preferred stock offering to expand sales of the surprisingly successful Grant's Mandarin Hefeweizen, a wheat, fruit-flavored beer that is made using mandarin orange juice flavoring.

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Yakima Brewing, which operates Grant's Brew Pub and a separate brewery, will sell 500,000 shares at $1 each, with each paying a 7.75% semiannual dividend.

Mandarin Hefeweizen currently is available in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Arizona and In just eight months on the market, it already has surpassed sales this year of the company's longtime flagship beer, a Scottish Ale.

"We're just all kind of overwhelmed by that," said Paul Brown, a company officer and director. "We found it appealed to just about everyone: People who have been drinking craft brews for years, people who don't like beer, people who drink only wine. It appeals to a broad crowd."

About 99% of Yakima Brewing's common stock shares are held by its parent company, Black Bear Brewing Co. of Atlanta, Fla., which bought Yakima Brewing in January 2002. The brewery was founded by the late Bert Grant, and was the first post-Prohibition brewpub to open in the United States.

Investors in Yakima Brewing would have the option to convert their preferred shares to common stock shares in that company or its parent company.